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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Commercial LPG 'evaporates' in Maharashtra

Mumbai : The short supply of commercial LPG cylinders turned ‘grim’ on Wednesday as hundreds of small and medium eateries – on whom the ordinary working Mumbaikars depend on for daily meals – shut down or drastically trimmed menus, on Wednesday.   With an estimated 50,000-plus hotels, restaurants and small food joints, the crunch is beginning to be felt severely, said Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) vice-president and Hotel and Restaurant Association Western...

Commercial LPG 'evaporates' in Maharashtra

Mumbai : The short supply of commercial LPG cylinders turned ‘grim’ on Wednesday as hundreds of small and medium eateries – on whom the ordinary working Mumbaikars depend on for daily meals – shut down or drastically trimmed menus, on Wednesday.   With an estimated 50,000-plus hotels, restaurants and small food joints, the crunch is beginning to be felt severely, said Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) vice-president and Hotel and Restaurant Association Western India (HRAWI) spokesperson Pradeep Shetty.   “We are in continuous touch with the concerned authorities, but the situation is very gloomy. There is no response from the Centre or the Ministry of Petroleum on when the situation will ease. We fear that more than 50 pc of all eateries in Mumbai will soon down the shutters. The same will apply to the rest of the state and many other parts of India,” Shetty told  ‘ The Perfect Voice’ .   The shortage of commercial LPG has badly affected multiple sectors, including the hospitality and food industries, mass private or commercial kitchens and even the laundry businesses, industry players said.   At their wits' ends, many restaurateurs resorted to the reliable old iron ‘chulhas’ (stoves) fired by either coal or wood - the prices of which have also shot up and result in pollution - besides delaying the cooking.   Anticipating a larger crisis, even domestic LPG consumers besieged retail dealers in Mumbai, Pune, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, Akola, Nagpur to book their second cylinder, with snaky queues in many cities. The stark reality of the 12-days old Gulf war with the disturbed supplies has hit the people and industries in the food supply chains that feed crores daily.   “The ordinary folks leave home in the morning after breakfast, then they rely on the others in the food chain for their lunch or dinner. Many street retailers have also shut down temporarily,” said Shetty.   Dry Snacks A quick survey of some suburban ‘khau gullies’ today revealed that the available items were mostly cold sandwiches, fruit or vegetable salads, cold desserts or ice-creams, cold beverages and packed snacks. Few offered the regular ‘piping hot’ foods that need elaborate cooking, or charging higher than normal menu rates, and even the app-based food delivery system was impacted.   Many people were seen gloomily munching on colorful packets of dry snacks like chips, chivda, sev, gathiya, samosas, etc. for lunch, the usually cheerful ‘chai ki dukaans’ suddenly disappeared from their corners, though soft drinks and tetrapaks were available.   Delay, Scarcity  Maharashtra LPG Dealers Association President Deepak Singh yesterday conceded to “some delays due to supply shortages” of commercial cylinders, but assured that there is no scarcity of domestic cylinders.   “We are adhering to the Centre’s guidelines for a 25 days booking period between 2 cylinders (domestic). The issue is with commercial cylinders but even those are available though less in numbers,” said Singh, adding that guidelines to prioritise educational institutions, hospitals, and defence, are being followed, but others are also getting their supplies.   Despite the assurances, Shetty said that the current status is extremely serious since the past week and the intermittent disruptions have escalated into a near-total halt in supplies in many regions since Monday.   Adding to the dismal picture is the likelihood of local hoteliers associations in different cities like Pune, Palghar, Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and more resorting to tough measures from Thursday, including temporary shutdown of their outlets, which have run out of gas stocks.

NCP (SP) hopes to leverage rift between Marathas, OBCs

Mumbai: In August, Sharad Pawar’s convoy was stopped in Solapur’s Barshi town by Maratha protestors demanding to know his stance on the reservation quota. A day later, he announced that he would support the cause of Maratha reservations if the Centre decides to extend reservations beyond the 50 per cent ceiling. In one stroke, he put the BJP-led union government in a spot and also vowed support to the agitators. In these elections, too, the senior politician, who enjoys the sobriquet of being a master strategist, will leverage this issue to his party’s benefit.


The BJP is already facing discomfort over the raging issue with Manoj Jarange-Patil refusing to let the situation quieten down. His demand that blood relatives of Marathas who have the necessary documents, also be eligible for reservations, is met with severe opposition from the OBCs. The community fears that the quota for existing groups will go down if more communities and groups are added to the pool competing for reservations. The Supreme Court in 2021 had struck down a proposal for quotas saying that it was breaching the 50 per cent limit set for reservations. While trying to placate the Marathas, the BJP and the Mahayuti alliance find themselves in a Catch-22 situation with OBCs training their guns on the parties in power. Prominent OBC leaders like Chhagan Bhujbal and now Laxman Hake are protesting against Jarange-Patil’s demands. Both communities, the Marathas and the OBCs form a sizeable part of the electorate and irking either would mean political suicide for a party. The Lok Sabha results, especially in Marathwada, were apparently a reflection of the unease and anger of the protesting communities towards the parties in the ruling alliance.


For long, the BJP has, in hushed tones, accused Pawar of inciting Jarange-Patil for electoral gains. Devendra Fadnavis even publicly claimed that Jarange-Patil “is reading Pawar’s script”. The claims are hard to prove. Nevertheless, these protests have presented a strategic opportunity for veteran politician Pawar. His response to these protests could shape the future of Maharashtra’s political landscape. And the leader of the NCP (SP) has carefully selected candidates to capitalise on this raging issue.


The rift between the Maratha and OBCs communities could be the secret to victory for Pawar’s candidates. A stellar example is in Beed where young OBC face Sandeep Kshirsagar has been re-nominated. It sends out a dual message; his loyalty is valued and rewarded and the large OBC population in Beed is assured that their opinion and vote matters to the party. The OBC electorate in the region is what catapulted Gopinath Munde to power, a legacy his successors are vying for.


On the other hand, Pawar has pitted Manikrao Shinde, a Maratha against OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal from Yeola. It helps consolidate the Maratha votes in the constituency especially since Bhujbal, the undivided NCP’s most prominent OBC leader, has been vocal against the Maratha reservation demands. The anger against Bhujbal will translate into votes for Shinde.


The movement has united various factions within the Maratha and OBC communities. Pawar is poised to align with both communities to reinforce his party’s commitment to social justice and could forge new alliances with smaller regional parties.

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